Electricity Service Scam August 2017

There is a new electricity scam that is becoming more frequent. It was quite sophisticated, coupled with a sense of urgency.

A client’s facility manager received a phone call from someone saying they were from ComEd. They were informed that their account was past due, and that a ComEd crew was on their way to disconnect service. They were instructed to bring their account current that day, in order to avoid the disconnection to their facility. They left an 800 number to call back for payment instructions.

When the 800 number was called, it started with a recording, nearly identical to the recording on the ComEd 800 number: “push 1 if you have a power emergency, and push 2 if you have a billing issue”. When connected, the rep on the phone identified themselves as “ComEd” and reiterated that their account was past due, and that they would need to send in a payment ($7000) immediately to ward off the crew sent over to disconnect service.

At this point, the client contacted NIMEC, who helped manage this situation. NIMEC researched the clients’ accounts, and determined that $7000 would have covered 6 months of ComEd delivery charges, making the claim suspicious. NIMEC then contacted ComEd and learned that ComEd had received all payments, and that the account was current. Further, the 800 number given by the scammer (877-999-3580) was not the ComEd 800 number for commercial accounts.

At this point, we instructed the client to not make any payments. We then sent the information on to ComEd to their Security department.

Should you encounter any similar situations, please contact NIMEC first before making any payments at (847) 392-9300.